Friction-clutch.



No. 79392'7. lATENTED JULY Il, 1905. W. H., FULGHER.

FRIGTON CLUTCH.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 1e. 1904.

nro. 793,92 7'.

1theirrlllein Sierre@ Qllllrrrlenclr trillen..

Vi'llililAh/l ll. FULCl'llCR, OF OAKLAND, ULlFUltNlA, ASWHNOR (ilP @Nililli/Mil*` TU ltllElM/XN t/llUhllll", Ulf ri/kN llilANGlFdftl, (l/llli'llitlltNl/i.

SIECFCATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 793,927, dated July 4, 1905.

Application Filed Mny 16, 1904. Serial No. 208,154.

Vlife it known thnt ll. WILLIAM lll. lil'nionnn, e citizen ol the United Stntee, reeiding' et Onlilnnd. in the county of Alnmedn :md State oli (lnlilornin, have invented new :md neelul lmprovcments in Friction-Ulutches` ot which the Following1 is n Specification.

lll/ly invention relates to n, clntch mechnnismdesigned to readily un ite or dieengng'e revoluble parts.

lt consists olE n plurnlity of eirculnr segments Formingl one member of the clutch. nn exterior shell forming' the other member, nnd mechnnism by which the snid seg-ments nre eimultnneously expended within the shell to produce the grip und unite the two members or (':orresponding'ly contrncted to release the grip :tnd nllow either member to be moved sepnrntely.

My invention comprises detnils ol' construction which will be more lully explnined by` reference to the nccompnnying' d rnwing's, in which*4 Figure Al. is n perspective view ol spider. lliiig'. 2 in nn exterior view ol' shell. Fig'. 3 is` n perspective view olf cnm. Fig'. 4l; is n, perspective view ol ep Bilder. Fig'. 5 is n section 0l clutch end (n mrnting' mechnnism. li`ig'. li is n, pnrtinl View olf rim, Showing` cnm netion upon both pnrts.

lt is the object ol' my invention to provide n clutch which is especinlly designed lor the` driving ol mnchinery olE miy description nnd pnrticnlm'ly such mnchinery :1s is opl'n'nted under heavy stresses.

AS shown in the nccolnpnnying' drnwing's A ie one'melnber ol my clutch, which in the present ense is representrnl in the Iorni ol' n cylindrical shell mounted upon n shnlt 3 nnd hnving' the interim' Snrfnce mede smooth :md adapted to receive the 'lirictionnl eontnct ot' the other member olt the clutch. lhis second member consists oli n web or spider hnving' nrms l projecting' in opposite .lirections `from n central hub, which in the procent ense is shown keyed npon the shnr't 3, while the Shell A is loosely tnrnnble n pon snid shnlt.

` lliormed upon the ends of the orme 2 nre the semieircnlnr segments 4t, these :segments extending' nn equal distance to each side ol the arms nnd meeting' nt the points` 5 ninety de g'rees from the junction ol the segments with the nrms 2. 'llhese si'igments nre sepnrnted. ns shown, :it the point 5 nnd nre cnpnble ot' expnnsion simultnneonsly and in opposite directions by any pressure ln'oug'ht to beni' ng'ninst their contig'i'lous ends ench seg'n'lent being' thus movable lrom two dinmetricnlly opposml points, so that the entire eircunller" ence olt the inner member is enpnble olt being' expended in qundrnnts by moving' oll the Iree ends ol snid r'luzulrnnte, the opposite ends of which ere, ns belore stnterh the junction with the rndinl nrms 2. lfhe expnnsion ol' these qundrnnts i'S prrtctirjtnlly equivnlenl. to expnrnling' the whole cireulnlerence olthe inner meinben'; bnt the poweris` npplied in such n mnnner that the contiguous ends ol" enel] qundrnnt nre srmnrnted l'rom ench other. nud ns their peripl'lery c-,oil'ieides with the inner periphery o'lf the shell it it will be seen thnt the Vlfrictionnl contnct will be almost or quite the entire cirenmlcrence ol the pnrtfs` with the pressure prneticnlly applied nt lour dil'- lerent points. ll'n order to :tpply this preslsure npd toexpnnd the segments, l hnve Ahewn cnms (l liulcrumed to two opposite segments al one hundred nnd eighty degrees npnrt. :ind these enms hnve nrnls T projecting' in wnrdly toward the hnb orcellter, lrom which thel :trms 2 rndinte. lln order to properly Secure these cnms, l hnve shown the leeg'mente it nnidemuch thicker nt their contiguous ends, ns shown nt 8, :ind one el. these segments nt eneh point is clnunbered to receive the cnms (l, :is plninly Shown in trnnsverse section, Fig'. (i.

'.lhe hubs,` Vfrom which the nrms 2 rznlinte hnve chnnnelsl mnde in opposite sides, ne shown :it il, nnd these ehnnnele nrendnpted to receive ,slides l0, which mny be moved pnrnllel with the exis ol' the shnlt, ns will be hereinnlter more fully described. '.lhere nre two olE these channels i) end two el the :trme lllq which nre lixed to or i'ormed with n huh ll, which is slideble npon the shnl" 3. rlllhese nrms l() hnve inclined or ding'onel shoulders or ol'lsete 12 formed npon the enter portion of the parte, which slide in the channel Sl. '.lhnf-iy the pnrt which elideel in the clnmnel .l moves in strnight line end serves ne n guide,

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and the inclined or beveled surface 12 when moved in one direction acts against the end of a screw 13, which passes through the arm 'T of the cani 6, there being one of these upon each side of the shaft, as previouslydescribed. The screw 13 may be turned in the arm 'l so as to regulate the position of the arm and its cam, with the latter just pressing against the opposing face S of the contiguous segment. `1t will now be seen that if the slide 10 be moved inwardly the action of the incline 12 will be to separate the arm 7. and thus, turning the cam 6, the pressure upon the face S will separate the two segments 4 and force them into frictional contact with the interior of the shell A. Upon the opposite side the same result is simultaneously attained, and thus the four segments are expanded into such frictional contact with the interior of the shell that either of the members of theI clntcli may serve as a drivei for the other. llt will be understood that the movement of the slides 10 and the iiiclines 12 in the opposite direction will iii'imediately release the clutches, which by their own elasticity, or, if desired, by the employment of a spring, will be sufficiently withdrawn from con tact withthe outer shell to allow the parts to be rotated Separately.

In order to make the proper connection with the hub 11, by which the slides 10 are moved, lf have shown this hu b having a groove or channel made around it, as at 14, and this groove or channel receives the segmental flanges 15, which, as shown. are of hook shape to engage with the groove, and the ends beyond thehub 11 inclose the shaft 3, around which they fit. The outside of the smaller portion is screw-threaded, as shown at 16. 17 is a second sleeve, also screw-threaded and having the same exterior diameter as the screw-tlireaded portion 16. Exterior to these is an interior screw-threaded sleeve 1S, which is screwed upon the two, and this exterior sleeve has projecting arms 19, by which it is turnable. The screw-threaded portion lTprojects from a fixed support 20, and it will be seen that by turning the arms 19 the sleeve 18 and the clutch-hooks 15 are caused to travel upon the screw-tlireaded portion 1T. The hub 11 and the slides 10 will be either drawn back or moved forward. ln the present case the inclines l2 are so constructed that when the slides are drawn away from the clutch members the latter will be released and allowed to turn freely, and when forced forward or toward the clutch members the inclines will act as before described to expand the clutch-segments and lock the two members together.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An improved clutch having in combination an open-ended shell, a shaft upon which said shell is turnable, a hub fixed to the shaft i Teaser and having arms projecting radially from opposite sides, said huh having longitudinally- 1 extending grooves iii its opposite sides, segl l l l ments having their central portions rigid with the arms and separated at their meeting ends, a cam pi votally mounted in one of the meeting ends of one segment and adapted to bear against the meeting end of a companion segment whereby the meeting ends of the segments are simultaneously moved in opposite directions and substantially the entire circuiiiference of the segments is expanded in unison, and a hub slidable on the shaft and having parallel spaced arms adapted to straddle the iixed hub said arms having beveled outer faces and said cams having arms projecting inwardly into the range of action of the slidable hub.

2. An improved friction-clutch having` in combination a shell, a shaft upon which the saine is turnable, a hub [ixed to the shaft and having` arms projecting radially from opposite sides, segments having central portions rigid with the arms, each of said segments having thickened ends and having' one of such ends chambered with the chaiiibered end of one segment located opposite the thickened unchambered end of the companion segment, oppositely-operating cams, one carried by each of the chambered ends of the segments and adapted to bear against the unchambered meeting end of a companion segment, and means for operating the cams in unison to cause the meeting ends of the segments to be moved together in substantially opposite direction.

3. The combination in a clutch of an exterior open-ended shell, a shaft upon which it is turnable, semicircular segments having arms in the center of each, connecting them with a central hub which is keyed to the shaft, cams by which the meeting ends of the segments are separated and expanded within the shell, guide-channels upon opposite sides of the hub, slides having inclined faces engaging the cam-levers, a grooved hub carrying said slides and slidable upon the shaft, segmental clutch-rings engaging the groove of the hub inclosing the shaft beyond the hub and having screw-threz'ids upon the exterior, a coriespondingly-iixed screw-threaded sleeveforming acont-inuation of said screw-threaded segments and an exterior screw-threaded sleeve connected with the clutch-segments and means by which said sleeve is turnable whereby the clutch-segments and slide-carrying hub are advanced or retracted.

1n testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

W'ILLTAM H. FULCHER.

1V itnesses.

S. HjNoUizsn, Jessie C. BnoDin.

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